Penske ALMS Team Secures Manufacturer's Title For Porsche

October 18, 2008

Photo courtesy Dan Boyd.

MONTEREY, Calif. (October 18, 2008) – The DHL Penske Porsche American Le Mans Series (ALMS) teams entered Saturday’s Monterey Sports Car Challenge, the final round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series, with the LMP2 prototype driver’s and team championships already clinched, but the manufacturers title was still up for grabs. In a four-hour race which featured 13 caution periods and a racing surface filled with gravel due to many off-track incidents, Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) guided the No. 7 DHL Penske Porsche RS Spyder to a third-place LMP2 class finish (fifth overall) – high enough to edge Acura by a single point in the final standings.

Porsche ended the season with 214 points, and Acura, with a one-two finish at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course, finished second with 213.

Hartmut Kristen, head of Porsche Motorsport, couldn’t have planned the season any better for this final result – as Porsche also clinched the manufacturer’s championship in the production-based GT2 class. “To win all six championships – team, driver, and manufacturer’s titles in both LMP2 and GT2 – is so much satisfying than any individual race that we could win,” said a proud Kristen. “This effort included all our teams, their drivers and crews, our engineers – both at the track and in Germany – and all the Porsche AG, Porsche Motorsport, and Porsche Cars North America employees that helped make this happen. A special thanks must go to Penske Racing and Flying Lizard Motorsports, the teams that produced the driver’s championships and contributed heavily to the manufacturer’s titles.”

Earlier this month at the 2008 Petit Le Mans, Penske Racing had secured the LMP2 team title – their third straight – and the second consecutive driver’s title for Bernhard and Dumas.

The Monterey Sports Car Championships presented by Patrón from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will air on NBC Sports from 2 to 4 p.m. EDT on Sunday, October 19. XM Satellite Radio Channel 144 will broadcast the race from 4 to 8 p.m. EDT on Sunday.

Team Penske is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports and celebrated its 50th Anniversary during the 2016 season. Dating back to its first race in the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, cars owned and prepared by Team Penske have produced more than 440 major race wins, over 500 pole positions and 29 National Championships across open-wheel, stock car and sports car racing competition. In its storied history, the team has also earned 16 Indianapolis 500 victories, two Daytona 500 Championships, a Formula 1 win and overall victories in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Over 80 drivers have raced for Team Penske over the years.